Sydney, Australia, February 7, 2019 – Andrew Schacht will take on a bigger role this year as head coach of the whole beach volleyball national programme of Volleyball Australia until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
“I’m excited to take on the head coach role,” Schacht said. “I will be using all my experience as an athlete and coach to help drive the national programme and Australian beach volleyball well into the next decade. It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to work with a great group of athletes and staff in Adelaide.
“Our continued aim as a Beach Volleyball High Performance Programme is to take on the world as well as embracing the hard working and passionate beach volleyball community across the country.”
Schacht has worked within the country's beach volleyball programme since 2009, and in 2016 became the coach of the men’s teams. He coached Damien Schumann and Chris McHugh at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where they won the gold medal.
He played in the men’s volleyball national team in 1995 and became a beach volleyball athlete from 1996 to 2008 – competing in 118 World Tour events and winning a bronze medal at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in 2007. He also competed at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
“As our programme narrows its focus on the campaign for Tokyo 2020, it is essential for us to have strong technical leadership of the Beach Volleyroos on the ground in the National Training Centre at SASI in Adelaide and at the numerous World Tour and Asian Tour events and Championships, where our several teams will compete,” said John Boultbee, Volleyball Australia’s Director of High Performance.
“Andrew has the experience as an Olympic athlete and as a long time coach in the programme and is ideally placed to lead the programme in Adelaide. It’s a very busy and intense time for our players seeking Olympic selection and ultimately seeking medals in Tokyo, so this is an absolute priority for us. We are fortunate to have someone with Andrew’s experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to take on this role.”
Schacht’s first big assignment is to lead Australia at the double-gender FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Sydney 3-star, where they will host teams from Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Vanuatu and Venzuela at Manly Beach from March 6-10.
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